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The Northern Galaxy Lights
It hadn't been long since the most recent move, yet Iyoko was already fond of this place, though the same couldn't be said for those around her. Of all her family, she was the only one with the confidence to walk outside the apartment, so ensuring they had food was her job. Though, her confidence wasn't known to those of the untrained eye; her posture appearing meek and hands shaky. It was almost instinct by now. The appearance of fright was that of readiness for nigh anything, something she, as a kunoichi in-training, had to uphold. Her hands full, she scanned the area for something — someone — to aid her in her attempt of looking pathetic. Appear the least bit shinobi as you can, her mother's words rang in her ears as a sense of new, real fear grew in the pit of her stomach. Though quite used to speaking out to new people, her familiarity aided little in helping calm herself. If I had those eyes, I wouldn't have to be so afraid, she inwardly told herself. And with a deep breath, she took a few steps forward to better look around. Ignoring the adults, her gaze zeroed in on a boy about her age. Her eyes went wide with wonder as she observed the oddity of the boy. She'd seen some strangely colored hair before, but never to such an extent. It reminded her of mint ice cream. It took all of a split second for her to decide that he'd be the one to help her. Forced smile fueled by the thought of ice cream, she began to approach, steps far more bouncy and fluid that she'd intended. ---- Itsuki had left the Hyōkaigakure Ninja Academy only fifteen minutes before. It wasn't his ideal way of spending his time, but his caretakers had made it mandatory for him to study there. Why? Apparently, there was this thing called a shinobi. The foxes that took care of him were affiliated with these shinobi. These people were responsible for taking on various tasks and jobs to better their village. Sometimes, they were sent to war to fight other shinobi. They really did a lot, and Itsuki didn't feel up to it. Right now, all he wanted to do was go home, and maybe go for a walk with his friends; the foxes. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he felt the money he had saved. This little bit of ryo should be enough to get him, and maybe even a friend something to eat. Itsuki had his pick of all the restaurants in Hyōkaigakure, and he was indeed hungry. Turning to face the buildings, he looked around at their signs to see where it was that he wanted to eat. But before he could make up his mind, he noticed someone approaching him. It was a girl, she looked a bit shorter than him. Itsuki had never seen anyone like her. His gaze moved to her long, flowing hair which was tied back in a messy ponytail. But he wouldn't be able to look for long, as her deep, blue eyes would capture his gaze. Itsuki just stood there, watching the girl come closer. "U-Uhm..." He began, unsure of what to say. "Hi..." ---- Act normal, Iyoko told herself as she finally reached a comfortable distance. She didn't dare get too close. It wasn't like others to speak to her first so she wasn't sure how to exactly answer. She opted for the safe: "Hey, uh, could you help me with this?" She lifted her bags just slightly, careful not to show her hidden strength. "My house isn't far, but..." But what? She hadn't thought that far ahead. Why was it the boy who had to start the conversation, if it could even be called such? "Can I just... Can you... help me?" she said, much quieter this time, looking away as a blush covered her face. Maybe she should've just struggled the whole way home. ---- Tilting his head to the side, Itsuki managed a shy smile. "Yeah, I can." He replied as he got closer to the girl. He straightened his duffle bag that he carried on his back in order to prepare himself for the bags. Then, he reached out, taking several of the bags from the girl while being extra careful not to touch her. Situating them on his forearms, he would step out in front of her before turning around. "Um...where are we going?" Itsuki asked. Like Iyoko's face, his own was stained with a light shade of pink. ---- Iyoko allowed a more genuine smile to form across her lips as she silently jerked her head in the correct direction before remembering her manners and said: "This way. Just a little ways down that road there." She held out her hand as though to point at the least sketchy way to her place. Though not the usual route she took, it was the shortest and appeared to be the one way that didn't make you feel as though something could jump out at you. Not about to let Itsuki take the lead — fear those behind you — Iyoko stepped ahead. "C'mon." Before they could take another step forward, though, Iyoko remembered something. "I'm not supposed to talk to people I don't know, so what's your name?" she asked, genuinely curious about the boy who so kindly helped her. ---- Itsuki jumped when he was adressed suddenly. Turning back to face Iyoko, he caught himself stuck looking at her eyes. Why was it that he couldn't look away? "Oh...um...Itsuki." He said hastily. "Itsuki S-Sora." Having turned, he continued walking for a bit. He wished he could be more bold and talk to people in actual complete sentences. He always annoyed himself with his timid nature. He was going to really talk to this girl; he needed it anyways. His fox caretakers were always bugging him about socializing, and how he seemed awkward. Turning back again to face her, he looked her right in the eyes. "So, um..." He started, faltering a bit. "What's your name?" Itsuki smiled the best he knew how, unsure of how he should look. ---- "Iyoko," she said, her gaze refusing his as she looked away. She'd expected the question in return but didn't think it would a bitter taste to her mouth. "I'm unaware of my surname." As were the rest of her household. Not wanting it to dampen the already groaning atmosphere between the two, she inwardly shook away the thought. "Now that we know each other, we can talk as we walk." Seeing as they weren't gonna get anything done if they kept pausing so much, Iyoko took the lead once more. Ignoring the tempting sight of the darker, more narrow streets that she usually walked down, she began the short but tiring trudge to her place. ---- Itsuki sped up a bit when she took the lead, attempting to walk next to the girl. She walked fast, and he wasn't all that speedy. So, after this...wanna do something?" The boy asked rather shyly. "I-I have money; if you want, I can get us some food or something." He had never really had any friends besides animals, and Iyoko seemed nice. Itsuki thought that since she had approached him, even if it was to just get some help, he could at least thank her. "I wanna be friends." He stated bluntly, and rather awkwardly at that. "I don't have any...human friends, maybe we could be friends?" Listening to his words come out, he inwardly chastised himself for sounding so stupid. ---- Itsuki's seemingly lack of confidence was cute, enduring even. Iyoko tilted her head back to look at him. "Uh, sure." It wasn't common that people offered her such a kind gesture, especially after they'd already been caring enough to accept her request to help her. "But you really shouldn't waste money on me. It's hard to come by nowadays." As for a requested friendship: "And, yeah — w-we can be friends." She didn't have many of those, nor had anyone ever straight up asked to be her friend before. ---- When he heard this, a smile spread across his face. "Oh, ok!" He said while straightening his posture. "It's not a waste, though, since you're my friend now. That's what we're supposed to do." As the two strolled for a bit, Itsuki looked around at the apartments. "So, which one of these is your house?" He asked, suddenly filled with confidence. Now that he had asked Iyoko to be his friend, and she had accepted his invitation to eat, talking to her didn't seem so hard anymore. ---- Iyoko pointed to one of the less nice-looking apartments. "That one there." It wasn't that her family couldn't afford a better place, but the fear brought on by living in such a decrepit place would one day help bring forth her true potential. Once they made it in front of the apartment, however, a sense of shame overcame her. Her living situations shouldn't have been shameful; at least she had something, but having someone see even just the outside of her apartment building was an embarrassment. "Uh, I'll take those from here," she said, turning herself around to snatch the bags away, not nearly as careful as Itsuki had been before. "I'll be back in five, 'kay?" Before she could get an answer, she was gone up the stairs and in her apartment, showing off the speed and strength she'd kept hidden until then. She made due on her promise and was back even sooner than she said, oddly excited to be heading out with someone new. Back where she once lived, her friends were none too fond of her jumpy nature and thus, never invited her to hang out, so for someone she just met to ask her to go out to eat was new, but not in the least frightening. She made a move to lead but quickly turned back. "Um, I don't know any places to eat," she said, scratching the back of her neck nervously. ---- Itsuki was glad he had found someone he could spend the day with. He didn't really have a lot of friends, and was rather excited to have met Iyoko. With a smile, he looked at his new acquaintance and began to walk up to her. "Ah, that's ok, I know somewhere great to eat!" He said happily as he took his new friend's hand. "C'mon, its just this way, Iyoko-chan." Having tested her name, Itsuki nodded slightly before pulling the girl with him down the street and back onto the sidewalk they had come from earlier. ---- Iyoko almost allowed herself to freeze-up, unused to the physical contact. Fear raced through her mind but didn't reach her complete self as she found the nearness both excitingly new and comforting; everything she should've avoided but couldn't bring herself to pull away from Itsuki. Those absolutely insane emotions erupted just as fast as they'd disappeared at the sound of Itsuki's use of honorifics. Such a thing may or may not have been common in Hyōkaigakure, but back where Iyoko lived, such things were earned through hard work, gained only by those with the utmost respect for you. Knowing Itsuki respected her, or at least gave her a second thought was alien but welcomed. Having experienced so many new emotions in the span a few seconds, Iyoko nearly faceplanted on the street as Itsuki pulled her along. With a small sound of surprise, she followed, something, she decided, she'd only do for Itsuki. ---- Itsuki continued to pull Iyoko around. "Hm...should we get teriyaki, or ramen...?" The boy asked himself as he guided his friend down the road. "I think I'll take her to the buffet that I usually go to." He concluded as he came up to a big door. Above it was a large, flashing sign. This was the place. Opening the door, he brought Iyoko inside. "So, is a buffet ok?" Itsuki asked shyly as he guided Iyoko to a table. He wanted to do his best to leave a good first impression. He was unsure why, but he felt like he had to "wow" her for some reason. ---- Iyoko gave a small smile. "Well, we're already here, so it'll do." It was quite nice, if not a bit worrying. Did Itsuki have enough money for both of them to eat? After getting everything her family needed, Iyoko only had a small bit of change left. I guess I could leave the tip, she thought, looking around satisfyingly when she saw a couple waiters tending to other tables.